The family of a war veteran who was killed by thugs on the French Riviera have said they could have accepted his death if it had happened in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Speaking after the inquest into the death of Lance Corporal Lee Fisher, from Sandhurst, his wife Lisa said: “There was no justification – this was just so stupid.”

An inquest into Lance Corp Fisher’s death found he had been unlawfully killed in September last year.

The former TA soldier who served with the Royal Marines, was killed by thugs outside a lap-dancing club on the French Riviera in a row over the price of drinks, the coroner was told at an inquest on Thursday, May 31.

Proud war veteran Lee, 37, and three pals were lured into the erotic drinking den with the promise of cheap alcohol but were involved in an altercation when they left the bar in Cannes.

After the inquest into his death, his heartbroken mum Julie Fisher, said: “I hope he gets justice because he went to Afghanistan and Iraq and we would have accepted it if he had died there but this is just so stupid.”

Pal Dean Eaton said in a written statement read at the inquest in Alton: “The man said the drinks were cheap but when we got there it turned out the drinks were actually very expensive.

“As we walked out we saw the same man who said it was cheap. Lee was arguing with this man, who had told him a lie.”

The Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran shouted at the promoter and pushed him, the inquest heard, but as the pair wrestled he was ambushed by the group of thugs.

In a written statement, Thomas Blackwell, another of Lee’s friends, said: “As (Lee and the promoter) reached the T-junction at the top of the street around seven men seemed to come out of nowhere.

“They all started hitting Lee and we started trying to help him.”

The yobs chased off Lee’s pals and punched him in the face several times sending him flying backwards onto the ground.

As he fell the former soldier, described as an “extremely large, muscular person” by a French pathologist, cracked the back of his head against the ground.

Lee, who worked for design firm Lea International, was treated by lifesavers but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post mortem examination in France found he died of a head injury and the court heard how an investigation into the attack was still ongoing in France, where three people had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

North Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley said: “I’m satisfied on the information I have got that Lee was the victim of a vicious and violent assault and was unlawfully killed.

“I hope he gets justice.”

Lee had lived in Bittern Close, Sandhurst, with wife of five years Lisa, who was at the inquest, alongside parents Paul and Julie.